Factories, businesses across the country struggle amid load shedding

Scheduled power cuts across the country began a couple of days ago to ease demand for fuel and power, but general people and businesses have been suffering in trying to cope with the new austerity measures as load shedding occurred way more than the specified time in many areas.

Meanwhile, many factories and businesses have been buying more fuel for generators to maintain uninterrupted production and sales, putting the success of austerity measures in question.

Factories that use generators said their production costs have jumped significantly, which might in turn cause a price hike of many products.

Small and medium businesses which do not have the capacity to use generators have reduced production and sales.

Unscheduled load shedding hurts Bogura factories

Load shedding beyond schedule in Bogura has been disrupting production at the factories in the area and causing immense sufferings for local people and businesses there.

According to sources at the Northern Electricity Supply Company (Nesco), the demand for electricity in the district yesterday was 141 MW, but 95 MW was supplied which could provide power for a little more than 16 hours in the district. Around eight hours of power cuts were needed in the area to manage the load.

Nesco has not been able to manage the load as per a government announcement that said at most two hours of load shedding would take place in an area in a day.

Consequently, production has been declining in factories in Bogura. Besides, production cost at many factories has increased as they are using generators.

Bogura Motors Director Tahmidul Islam Chandan said his factory has been dominating the market of filters used in automobiles for a long time now, but currently it is facing a huge problem due to power outage.

"To solve this problem, we are providing electricity support with a generator. A large amount of diesel is required here. Due to this additional cost, the price of our products will also increase. Altogether it will affect the market," he said.

He also said many factories in Bogura – which accommodates a light engineering cluster – have reduced their production due to the power shortage.

Zakir Hossain, managing director of Gunjan Group, said, "Load shedding is happening in a random manner. Currently our auto rice mill is husking paddy. About 1,800 maunds of paddy are boiled at a time. Power disruption during the process ruins the quality of the rice."

The businessman said the company has a generator as a back-up, but increased dependency on it will increase its production cost.

Tahmina Parveen Shyamoli, director of Rochas Restaurant in Bogura, said, "Power goes off frequently. The refrigerator at our restaurant cannot be opened during the long hours of load shedding and we cannot run the business without it."

"If load shedding is a must, it should be done as per schedule. Then we will be able to take measures accordingly," she added.

The office of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh in Bogura said demand for electricity in the district was 130 MW on Wednesday, against which 107 MW was supplied. On Tuesday, demand was 140 MW, and 87 MW was supplied.

Load shedding increases fuel oil consumption in Jashore

Big businesses in Jashore have been buying more fuel than they usually do for running their businesses amid rampant load shedding in the district.  

The Petrol Pump Owners' Association has opined that the government's method of managing the load will not be effective if the current trend continues.

Syed Sajjadul Karim Kabul, president of Bangladesh Petroleum Dealers Distributors Agents and Petrol Pump Owners Association, told TBS, "Saving fuel is not possible by keeping the filling station closed for one day in a week, because consumers at all levels will purchase fuel needed for two days before the closure. This will create a lot of pressure on the filling stations."

The fuel sellers also said the government should strictly monitor vehicle use in offices, because not even half of the fuel allocated for them is used for government work.

Atiqur Rahman Tiku, vice president of Jashore Petrol Pump Owners' Association, said, "Diesel and petrol sales have increased in the last two days due to load shedding. What I am hearing is that businesses and offices are taking all that fuel."

Hasanun Kabir Hasan, executive member of Jashore Petrol Pump Owners Association, said if load shedding is done in this way, fuel sales will increase further.

Aminul Majid Tushar, owner of Leather Fair in Jashore city, said most of the traders in the area are using generators during load shedding. The businesses either have their own generator or they rent one.

Shyamal Das, owner of MU CEA Foods BSCIC in Jashore, said the export sector of the country should be kept free from load shedding because load shedding increases fuel consumption. The company previously needed 20 litres of diesel per day for the generator, but currently it needs 60 litres due to load shedding.

Shahidul Islam, executive engineer of Jashore West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd said, "We are managing load as per rule. On Wednesday we got 40MW electricity, while there was a shortage of 15 MW."

Load shedding hurts dairies, poultry farms in Cumilla

Load shedding has been taking place more than the scheduled time in the Cumilla upazilas. However, in Cumilla city it has not been that severe.

Dairy production and supply are disrupted due to load shedding in rural areas. The price of poultry feed has also increased due to disruption in production caused by load shedding.

Sources at Cumilla Palli Bidyut Samiti said the four upazilas in the district need 500 MW electricity, but they get 100 MW less than that. On average, people in rural areas get 20% less electricity than required.

Cumilla Power Development Board Chief Engineer Tofazzal Hossain Pramanik told TBS that sometimes that halting power supply is necessary during repair work, but other than that there is no load shedding outside the stipulated time in Cumilla.

However, on condition of anonymity, a Palli Bidyut official told TBS, that upazilas under the board have an average demand of 7 MW, but the board can supply only 3 MW per day. For the past one month, there has been a shortage of 3-4 MW of electricity per day. However, the authorities try to maintain uninterrupted power connection at night.

Khairul Bashar, owner of Ayan-Meehan Agrofarm in Cumilla's Burichong area, said milk production in the farm has decreased by 20% due to severe load shedding.

"In the morning I collect the milk and load it in a freezing car and send it to the city. But due to frequent load shedding we cannot process the milk properly. So we are forced to reduce production," he said.

Tajul Islam Mujahid, a quail bird farmer in Chandina, said poultry feed price has doubled due to a drop in production caused by load shedding. As such, he was forced to reduce production by three quarters.

"Earlier, we used to rear 60,000 quails, but currently I am rearing only 15,000. The production cost of quail eggs has doubled from Tk1 to Tk2," he said.

Meanwhile, lights and fans that run on charged batteries are being sold at higher prices amid the severe load shedding. Two business organisations were fined in Cumilla on Thursday for selling such electronic equipment at higher prices.

Rajshahi businesses suffer in darkness

Businessmen in Rajshahi said their sales have dropped due to rampant load shedding and the closing of shops by 8pm.

Russel, owner of Metro Confectionery in Rajshahi Newmarket, said, "There are two hours of load shedding for one hour of power supply. We cannot sit in the shop during load shedding amid the excessive heat."

Md Mithu, owner of Moon Watch and Electronics, said customers do not visit shops during load shedding and so sales have dropped. Besides, customers come to the market mainly in the evening, but closing the shops at 8pm does leave much time for business.

Mohammad Raj, the owner of Raj Camera, said due to lack of electricity, many of the work orders have remained pending in his shop.

Power cut has Khulna businessmen suffer

Small and medium entrepreneurs in Khulna have been facing losses due to the daily load shedding and closing of shops after 8pm.

Syed Ali, who sells tea, coffee and sherbet in Khulna New Market, said he cannot prepare most of the drinks on his menu if there is no electricity.

"I boil water in a heater and make juice with a blender. All these are powered by electricity. Load shedding takes place for one hour every day at the peak time. Customers do not get what they want at that time, which leads to losses," he said.

Hasnat, an ice cream seller at Shantidham intersection in Khulna, said, "The refrigerator cannot be opened during load shedding. We cannot even sell ice cream in that one hour."

Jabbar Ahmed, a grocery shop owner in Jashore, said he usually got customers after the evening. Currently his sales have dropped as he cannot keep his shop open after 8pm.